Notation
Note: The tunes below are recorded in what
is called “abc notation.” They
can easily be converted to standard musical notation via highlighting with
your cursor starting at “X:1” through to the end of the abc’s, then
“cutting-and-pasting” the highlighted notation into one of the many abc
conversion programs available, or at concertina.net’s incredibly handy “ABC
Convert-A-Matic” at

**Please note that the abc’s in the Fiddler’s
Companion work fine in most abc conversion programs. For example, I use
abc2win and abcNavigator 2 with no problems whatsoever with direct cut-and-pasting.
However, due to an anomaly of the html, pasting the abc’s into the
concertina.net converter results in double-spacing. For concertina.net’s
conversion program to work you must remove the spaces between all the lines
of abc notation after pasting, so that they are single-spaced, with no
intervening blank lines. This being done, the F/C abc’s will convert to
standard notation nicely. Or, get a copy of abcNavigator 2 – its well worth
it.[AK]

(MY) AIN KIND DEARIE (O). AKA
and see "The Lea Rig(ges),"
"Oh! Lassie, Art Thou
Sleeping Yet?" "The Wedding [3]."Scottish,English, Canadian; Reel, Slow March and Air. England, Northumberland.
Canada; Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton. G Major (O’Farrell): A Major
(Miller): A Mixolydian (Bremner). Standard or AEae (Cape Breton) tunings. AB
(most versions): AABB (Bremner, Miller, Perlman). A popular 18th century
melody, this tune appears the Gillespie
Manuscript of Perth (1768, pg. 55), Robert
Bremner's 1757 collection (Scots
Reels or County Dances, Ediburgh, pg. 76), and the Drummond Castle Manuscript (in the possession of the Earl of
Ancaster at Drummond Castle), inscribed "A Collection of Country Dances
written for the use of his Grace the Duke of Perth by Dav. Young, 1734." Captain Francis O’Neill (1922) finds “an
elaborite arrangement with 12 bars in each part appears in McGoun's Repository of Scots and Irish Airs,
Strathspeys, Reels, etc., published in Glasgow about 1803.” There
are also resemblances between this tune and "Christmas Eve [1]," "Our President," "Here's a Health to Our Leader,"
"The Fearless Boys," and the
1st part of Bayard's Pennsylvania collected "Hell Broke Loose in Georgia."
The title (as well as the alternate titel "Lea Rig," by which it is
also commonly known) comes from the words set to the tune (which also provide
one of the alternate titles, "The Lea Rig" by which it is now better
known), in common use in the countryside of Scotland in the 18th century. They
begin:

***

I'll lay thee o'er the lea rig,

My ain kind dearie O.

***

Scots
poet Robert Burns adapted the melody to his song of the same title, which is
close to the setting given in Cranford (1995). Cape Breton settings of “My Ain
Kind Dearie,” such as played by Joe MacLean, Dan Hughie MacEachern and others,
were rendered in multiple parts (six to eight) in ‘raised-bass’ tuning (AEAE),
according to Paul Stewart Cranford (1995), who thought the variations likely
evolved from ones similiar to those given in Charles MacLean’s 1774 publication
A Collection of Favourite Scots Tunes
with Variations for the Violin. ). It was often played in Scotland in
scordatura tuning (AEae), as directed, for example, in James Gillespie’s A Collection of the Best and Most Favourite
Tunes for the Violin (Perth, 1768). Irish versions of the melody can be
found under the titles “Have
you seen or have you heard,” “Sweet
Innisfallen" and Lover’s “Widow
Machree.” Sources for notated versions: fiddler Mike MacDougall (1928-1982,
Ingonish, Cape Breton) via Jerry Holland (Inverness, Cape Breton) [Cranford];
Paul MacDonald (b. 1974, Charlottetown, Queens County, Prince Edward Island)
[Perlman]. Bremner (Scots Reels),
1757; pg. 76. Cranford (Jerry Holland’s),
1995; No. 172, pg. 49 (slow march setting). Graham, 1908; pg. 176. Johnson (Scots Musical Museum), 1787‑1803,
vol. 1, No. 49. Miller (Fiddler’s Throne),
2004; No. 352, pg. 206. O’Farrell (Pocket Companion, vol. II), c. 1806;
pg. 141. Peacock (Peacock’s Tunes),
c. 1805/1980; No. 10, pg. 3. Perlman (The
Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; pg. 206 (appears as “Me Ain
Kind Dearie”). Walsh (Compleat Country
Dancing Master), 1731, vol. 1, pg. 64.

MY BONNY BRUNETTE (Ho rò mo nighean dònn bhoidheach). Scottish, March?
E Minor. Standard tuning. AAB. "This air appears, from the words, to be
the serenade of a lover to his mistress. He taps at her window, and, inplace of her usual gracious reply to his
protestations of love, she appears at her window, but is on this occasion
silent. Explanations, of course, become necessary, when it merely turned out
that her silence proceeded from the minister sleeping in the adjoining
apartment, and hazarded a disclosure of an amour, only secret till the consent
of friends could be obtained" (Fraser). Fraser (The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the
Isles), 1874; No. 138, pg. 56.

MY CHARMER
FROM CLARE. Irish, Air (3/4 time). G Major. Standard
tuning. AB. O’Neill (1922) says of his source: “James Whiteside, the ‘Bard of
Bray’, County Wicklow, was a genius—scholar, poet, musician, composer. Born in
County Monaghan in 1844, he retired after 40 years service as a schoolteacher
at Bray. His playing of the violin won two first honors at two Feiseanna. An
interesting sketch of his life appears on pages 384-7, [O’Neill’s] Irish Minstrels and Musicians.” Source
for notated version: the Whiteside manuscript [O’Neill]. O’Neill (Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody),
1922.

MY DARLING HAS DECEIVED ME (Rinnm'eudail mo mhealladhd).
Scottish, Slow Air (3/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning. AB. This tune "is
one of the love songs to which it is so difficult to attach incident, but is
given as communicated through the gentlemen mentioned in the Prospectus"
(Fraser). Fraser (The Airs and Melodies
Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1874; No. 174, pg.
71.

X:1

T:My darling has
deceived me

T:Rinn m’eudail
mo mhealladh

M:3/4

L:1/8

R:Air

S:Fraser Collection(1874)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

G>G|d3e
g2|(d2e) z G>G|d3e g2|(ag2) z f>e|[B2e2][A2c2][G2B2]|

([F2A2] B)z
g>e|[B3d3] D G2|(A G2) z G>G|d3eg2|(d2e)z G>G|

d3eg2|ag2 z
f>e|[B2d2][A2c2][G2B2]|([F2A2]B) z g>e|[B3d3] D G2|

(A G2)
z||d>c|B2g2B2|(A2G)z d>B|c3de2|(a g2)z f>e|[B2e2][A2c2][G2B2]|

([F2A2]B) z
g>e|[B3d3] D G2|(A G2) z d>c|B2g2B2|(A2G) z d>B|c3d e2|

(a g2) z f>e|[B2e2][A2c2][G2B2]|[F2A2]
Bz g>e|d3D G2|A G2 z||

MY DARLING I AM FOND OF YOU (Mo Muirnin Graduigim Tu). AKA -
"Then She Sung Most Charming." Irish, Air (3/4 time,
"tenderly"). D Major. Standard tuning. AB. O’Neill learned the song
from the singing of his father, when a boy in Bantry, west Cork. The second
strain is repeated after the fourth, “evidently to correspond with an extra
line in the verse.” O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies),
1903/1979; No. 16, pg. 3.

X:1

T:My
Darling I am Fond of You

L:1/8

M:3/4

N:”Tenderly”

S:O’Neill
– Music of Ireland (1903), No. 16

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:D

d2|A4B2|G4A2|F6|E4D2|D4E2|F4G2|A4d2|d4c2|A4B2|

G2A2|F6|E4D2|D4E2|F4A2|E4D2|D4||D2|F4G2|A2B2c2|

d4e2|f4e2|d4c2|A4G2|A4d2|d4c2|A4B2|G4A2|F6|E4D2|D4E2|

F4G2|A4d2|d4c2|A4B2|G4A2|F6|D4D2|D4E2|F4A2|E4D2|D4||

MY DARLING IS ON HIS WAY HOME. Irish, Air ("not a Jig")
{6/8 time}. G Major. Standard tuning. AB. "Taken down in my young days
from Morry Dwane of Glenosheen" (Joyce). Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Songs), 1909; No. 34, pg. 20.

MY DEAR IRISH GIRL. Irish, Air (4/4 & 6/8 time). G Major. Standard
tuning. AB. O’Neill (1922) says: “Not a few songs or ballads have been sung to a
variant of this old air, one of them being named The Hat My Father Wore. Where the second part came from the Editor
is unable to say, except that it has lodged in his memory for many years.” O’Neill (Waifs
and Strays of Gaelic Melody), 1922.

MY DEAR, WE'LL GET MARRIED IF LOVE COMES ON. Irish, Slow Air (3/4 time). A Dorian. Standard
tuning. One part. Source for notated version: Mr. Francis Hogan of South Lodge,
Brenormore, near Carrick‑‑on‑Suir, 1884, "a good
musician and a great enthusiast in Irish music and songs. He must have been
then well over seventy years of age" (Joyce). Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Song), 1909; No. 255, pg. 123.

MY DEARY/DEARIE SITE
OWER LATE UP. AKA ‑
"My Laddie Sits Ower Late Up." AKA and see "My Bonnie Bay Mare and I."
English, Scottish; Jig and Air (9/8 time). England, Northumberland. G Major.
Standard tuning. AABB (Raven, Bruce & Stokoe): ABCDEFFGGHHII (Peacock).
"This nursery song is thoroughly local, and dates from about the beginning
of last century. There is such an insignificant difference between the above tune
and 'Dorrington Lads', that they are usually taken to be the same air. As it
is, however, better to err in repetition than in omission, we have included
both, premising that we have been unable to settle the question of priority of
date" (Stokoe & Bruce). The title appears in Henry Robson's list of
popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes ("The Northern Minstrel's
Budget"), which he published c. 1800.A humorous song about drinking goes to the air:

MY
DOG DIES. AKA and see "James Lee's Favorite Jig."
American, Dance Tune. Composition credited to Zeke Backus in Ryan’s/Cole's
1000. Backus has been called a New England bandleader and tune composer,
although this cannot be substantiated at this time. Some say that Backus was
(also?) a minstrel performer, and apparently spent at least some time in San
Francisco. However, according to Rice’s comprehensive Monacrchs of Minstrelsy (1908), only a Charles Backus was listed in
the annals of minstrel performers. It was Charles who was a minstrel in
California, and well as the east coast, and he even toured Australia several
times. It is not known what, if any, connection he may have had with ‘Zeke’.
Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg.
6.

MY FAVORITE DRAM. AKA and
see "(A) Highland Bumpkin." AKA ‑ "Ho ro mo bhoban an
dram." Scottish, Slip Jig. G Major. Standard tuning. AABB'CC'. This tune
"is a well‑known and popular bacchanalian Highland melody; but
Culduthel's set of the words and music are so superior to any the editor has
heard, that it is rather fortunate his edition of the air happens to be in
print before an imperfect standard came forward" (Fraser). Fraser (The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the
Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1874; No. 164, pg. 67.

MY FAVOURITE, IF I COULD GET THEE. AKA ‑
"Stu mo luaidh na'm faighinn thu.” Scottish, Slow Air (3/4 time). B Flat
Major. Standard tuning. AAB. "This is one of the airs which bear
similitude to one of our standard Scottish melodies, 'In Winter, When the Rain
Rain'd Cauld.' How an air, with words so ancient as those attached to this one,
should have existed in the Highlands, and no person import it, can only be
accounted for by its being a real native, and new‑modelled by Oswald or
Macgibbon" (Fraser). Fraser (The
Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles),
1874; No. 62, pg. 22.

X:1

T:My favourite if I could get thee

T:’Stu mo luaidh na’m faighinn thu

L:1/8

M:3/4

S:Fraser Collection

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:B_

F|B>B B3d|c>B A4|B>A G3F|F>E D4|B>B B3c|d>e f3g|f>e
d3c|dB B3:|

F|B>B f3d|c>B A4|d>G G3F|B>F D4|B>B c3B|cd/f/ g3d|f>e
d3c|dB B2 zF|

B>B f3d|c>B A4|d>G G3F|B>F D4|B>B c3B|cd/f/ g3 z/d/|f>e
d3c|B3 A G||

MY FAVORITE JIG. American, Hornpipe. USA,
North Dakota. A Major ('A' part) & E Major ('B' & 'C' parts). Standard
tuning. AABC. This tune took its name from a type of banjo tune called a 'jig',
rather than the Irish jig form; it is effectively what is better known as a
hornpipe or clog. Pancerzewski credits the tune to an old fiddler named Mr.
Oard, once a professional musician for vaudeville theaters, who came into Elvy
Osborne's barber shop at times in the early 20th century to jam. Source for
notated version: MS of Elvy Osborne (Minot, North Dakota) [Pancerzewski].
Pancerzewski (The Pleasures of Home),
1988; pg. 7.

MY FORMER WIFE ("An Bean Do Bi/Be Ceana/Ceadna Agam" or "An Bean Do Bi
an Tan Agam"). AKA and see “Bantry Bay (Jig),” “Jackson’s Coggie/Coge
(in the Morning).” Irish, Double Jig. A Dorian. Standard tuning. AABB. The
tune was introduced to Chicago traditional musicians by uilleann piper Bernard
Delaney in the late 19th century, wrote Chief Francis O’Neill,
although he had sourced it to South Leitrim piper (and Chicago police sergeant)
James Early in his first publication, Music
of Ireland (1903). Chief O’Neill remembered: “The sudden popularity which
(“My Former Wife”) achieved became a source of no little embarrassment to its
sponsor. It was one of the ‘pet’ jigs which he liked to play at public
entertainments. When (Leitrim-born James) Early and (County Mayo-born John)
McFadden (a famous Chicago pipe/fiddle duo) happened to be on the same
programme and came on the stage ahead of Delaney, the mischievous pair never
failed to play his favorite tune” (Irish
Folk Music, pg. 96). Piper Delaney was described by O’Neill as “capable of
craning or playing the Connaught staccato system of execution, the free and
rolling style with a liberal sprinkling of graces and trills was his
favourite.” The range of the tune (to a high ‘c’ natural) helps it to stand out
in the repertoire, and the flute-playing O’Neill must have thought it an
important tune to include it in three of his collections. Another Chicago-based
piper from the same era, Patsy Tuohey, recorded the melody. Source for notated
version: Chicago piper Bernard Delaney [O’Neill]. O'Neill (O’Neill’s Irish Music), 1915/1987; No. 150, pg. 85. O'Neill
(Krassen), 1976; pg. 33. O'Neill (Music
of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903/1979; No. 849, pg. 158. O'Neill (Dance
Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems),
1907/1986; No. 110, pg. 33. Compass Records 7 4446 2,Oisíin McAuley –
“From the Hills of Donegal” (2007). Drumlin
Records, Brain McNamara – “A Piper’s Dream.”

MY GIRL IS
ON THE OCEAN. American (?),
Reel. E Dorian. Standard tuning. AAB. In the manuscript the tune is headed “My
Girl is on the Ocean, or going to America” and “From Joseph Duma.” Elsewhere in
the manuscript Mount transposed the tune to the key of F Minor on a page dated
Sept. 21st, 1845. Source for notated version:
the muisc manuscripts of painter William Sidney Mount (1807-1868), of Setauket,
Long Island.

MY GREAT GLEN OF SCOTLAND. AKA ‑
"The Great Glen of Scotland," "Gleann Mor na h‑Albainn."
Scottish, Slow Air (6/8 time). D Major. Standard tuning. AAB. See note for
"The Great Glen of
Scotland." Fraser (The Airs
and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1874;
No. 89, pg. 34.

X:1

T:Great Glen of Scotland, The

T:My Great Glen of Scotland

M:6/8

L:1/8

R:Slow Air

S:Fraser – Airs
and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles

MY HEART IS BROKE(N) SINCE THY DEPARTURE (Gun Bhris Mo Chrish’
On Dh’fhalbh Thu). Scottish, Slow Air (4/4
time). F Major. Standard tuning. AAB. "From Captain Fraser's
Collection" (Skye). This "is one of the love songs to which it is so
difficult to attach incident, as every pair of lovers instantly apply the words
and airs that suit them to their own case. This is, however, one of the sacred
compilation made by the gentlemen named in the prospectus, and universally
admired on all convivial occasions. Within their own district they had the aid
of a celebrated son of song, Mr. Thomas Houston, whose family are proprietors
in Sutherland" (Fraser). Fraser (The
Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles),
1874; No. 116, pg. 46. Hunter (Fiddle
Music of Scotland), 1992; No. 45. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; pg. 191. Greentrax
CDTRAX 9009, Hector MacAndrew (1903-1980) - “Scottish Tradition 9: The Fiddler
and his Art” (1993).

MY JEWEL, MY JOY. Irish, Slow Air (3/4 time).
A Minor. Standard tuning. One part. "From Mr. W. Aldwell of Cork
("Dec. 17, 1848"), who heard air and song sung in Cork about the year
1790. He remembered one verse of the song (given here), which, as Forde
remarks, is curious for the absence of rhyme.

MY JO JANET.
Scottish, Air. C Major (Howe): D Major (McGibbon). Standard tuning. AB (Howe):
AABB (McGibbon). The earliest form of the tune (with an anonymous lyric)
appears in old lute manuscripts such as the Skene (c. 1615‑20) and
Rowallan (c. 1612‑28). Emmerson (1972) groups this ballad with other
anonymous lyrics from the 17th century (such as "Muirland
Willie," "The Barrin' o the Door," and "The
Wowing of Jok and Jynny") which "add considerably to our knowledge of
the habits and outlook of these times." Howe (1000 Jigs and Reels), c. 1867; pg. 126.
McGibbon (Scots Tunes, book III),
1762; pg. 91.

MY KING HAS LANDED AT MOIDART. Scottish,
Pipe Pibroch. This pipe pibroch commemorates the spot where Bonnie Prince
Charlie first stepped foot on Scottish soil during the Jacobite rising of 1745.
It is said to have been composed on the spot at the time of the landing
(although this is disputed) by a member of the piping family of MacIntyres from
Rannoch, one John MacIntyre (Collinson, 1975). See note for “Eight Men of Mudart/Muidart”
for more information on the event and associated tales.

MY LADDIE COMES ON FRIDAY. English.
England, Northumberland. Title appears in Henry Robson's list of popular
Northumbrian song and dance tunes ("The Northern Minstrel's Budget"),
which he published c. 1800.

MY LADY BALCLUGHE'S (BUCCLEUCH'S) AYRE. Scottish. From the Panmure Manuscript, #9454, Seventy
Seven Dances, Songs and Scots Airs for Violin, c. 1675. Williamson relates
in his notes to the tune that the most famous exploit of the Buccleuch's, a
prominent Border family, was the daring rescue of Kinmont Willie from Carlisle
Castle by Walter Scott of Branxholme, Laird of Buccleuch, in 1596. This latter
bold man, later captured and sent to England, appeared before Queen Elizabeth,
who asked him, "How dared you undertake such a dangerous and presumptuous
venture?"Whereupon Buccleuch
replied, "What does a man not dare to do?"Finding merit in this response Elizabeth is reported to have
said, "With ten thousand such men, our brother of Scotland might shake the
firmest throne of Europe." She followed up by soon returning him unharmed
to Scotland. Flying Fish, Robin Williamson ‑
"Legacy of the Scottish Harpers, vol. 2."

MY LADY CAREY'S DOMPE. English,
Dance Air (cut time). G Dorian. Standard tuning. AAB & variations. A
'dumpe' was a sort of slow dance in vogue in the England of Henry VIII, the
early 16th century, but nothing much is known about it. This air is from a MS
in the British Museum. Chappell (Popular
Music of the Olden Times), vol. 1, 1859; pg. 222.

MY LADY HOPE'S SCOTCH-MEASURE. Scottish.
Published in Henry Playford's 1700 collection of Scottish dance tunes‑‑the
first appearence in print of the term 'Scotch Measure'.

MY LADY LAUDLAN'S LILT. Scottish.
From the Skene MS of c. 1615. Williamson says that various versions of the tune
occur in both 3/4 and 4/4 time, and he suggests the title may refer to the Lady
Lothian who was the wife of Mark Kerr, Earl of Lothian, who died in 1609. Flying Fish, Robin Williamson ‑ "Legacy of the
Scottish Harpers, Vol. 2."

MY LADY WINWOOD'S MAGGOT. AKA and see "Nobody's
Jig." English, Country Dance Tune (2/2 time). G Major. Standard
tuning. AABB. Maud Karpeles notes this tune, which dates to 1728 under this
title (though to 1686 as "Nobody's Jigg"), can be used as an
alternative accompaniment to the Flamborough Sword Dance. A 'maggot' was
another name for a dram, a unit of liquid measure, and also meant a small thing
of little consequence, or a plaything; from the Italian Magioletta. Maggots were latter 17th century longways country
dances written generally to triple-time tunes and often dedicated to a
personage. Barnes (English Country Dance
Tunes), 1986. Karpeles & Schofield (A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; pg. 18‑19.
Sharp (Country Dance Tunes),
1909/1994; pg. 50.

L:1/8

R:Air

S:Howe – 1000 Jigs and Reels (c. 1867)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:C

G | Acc c2 (c/d/) | e>dc
cAG | g2 (e/d/) cBc | GcA (G>FE) |

DD/E/F/G/ AGc | Gfe dcz/d/ |
c3 z2 ||

MY LAG(G)AN LOVE. Irish, Air (2/4 or 3/4
time). C Major (Roche): G Major (Ó Canainn). Standard tuning. One part (Ó
Canainn): AB (Roche). The Lagan is a river in northern Ireland which runs
through Belfast, but it also refers to the locality of East Donegal/West
Tyrone; the word itself refers to ‘low-lying ground’. Words are by Joseph
Campbell (sometimes given as Joseph McCahill), set to an ancient Irish air. It
is sometimes played by Scottish and Canadian pipe bands, and, in America, sung
as a song known as "The quiet joys of brotherhood." According to John
Moulden the song was first published in Belfast in 1904 in Herbert Hughes and
John Campbell’s Songs of Uladh (pg.
32), wherein Hughes states that he “made this collection while on holiday in
North Dun-na-nGall in August of last year.” The note with the tune says:
***

I got this from Proinseas
mac Suibhne who played it for me on the fidil.He had it

from his father Seaghan mac
Suibhne, who learned it from a sapper working on the

Ordnance Survey in Tearmann
about fifty years ago. It was sung to a ballad called

MY
LAST FALL. American, Quadrille (6/8
time). USA, southwestern Pa. G Major. Standard tuning. AB. The original source
of this tune was 19th century black fiddler Joe Workman from Greene County,
Pennsylvania. His fiddling was legendary in the area, and he was reportedly so
stirring a dance fiddler he could "make an old cow dance". This was
the only tune that Bayard could collect intact that can be attributed to his
playing; Bayard thinks it sounds Irish and cites "A Night at the Fair" and "Galloping O'Hogan" as having
similar sounding parts. Source for notated version: Joe Workman via William
Shape (Greene County, Pa., 1944) [Bayard]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 485, pgs. 451‑452.

MY LAST GOLD DOLLAR. AKA ‑
"My Last Old Dollar Is Gone.” Old‑Time, Song and Fiddle Tune. The
title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by
musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954.

MY
LILY. AKA and
see "Mo shuil a'd dheigh" (Fare Thee Well Love),” “Of Thee I Dream.”
Scottish, Canadian; Gaelic Air (3/4 time). Canada, Cape Breton. A Major.
Standard tuning. AABB. The first verse and chorus of the song goes:

One story says that the song was originally written
by a student of Celtic studies in Glasgow, enamoured ofa woman from Dublin, however, the real story
behind the song is documented in the Transactions of the Gaelic Society of
Inverness (Vol 57). It seems that the Reverend Donald MacNicoll, minister
of Lismore and a distinguished Gaelic scholar, proposed in 1771 at the age of
36 to the young Lilias Campbell of Achlian, Dalmally, who lived nearby. She was
half his age and, loath to marry an older man and one somewhat disfigured by
smallpox, she accepted the alternate proposal of a Captain Campbell of
Glenorchy. MacNicholl consoled himself in versifying on the lonely horseback
ride home, composing the famous song of lost love, "Mo shuil a'd dheigh." After the departure of his rival
Campbell grew careless, and during the celebrating of his betrothal he asked
his servant to kiss Lilias for the wager of a shilling.For her part, Lilias was incensed at being
so ungallantly bought and immediately broke it off with Campbell, sending
instead for MacNicholl to see if he might still be agreeable.He was, and they married in November, 1771,
two days after her 18th birthday. The couple lived long and happily,
despite the fact that many of their 16 children died in infancy, as was too
common in those days. Source for notated version: adapted by fiddler Jerry
Holland (Inverness, Cape Breton) from the piano playing of Joan MacDonald Boes
(accompanist for The Five MacDonald Fiddlers on many of their recordings in the
1960's) [Cranford].Cranford (Jerry Holland’s), 1995; No. 278, pg. 81.

MY LITTLE DONY. AKA – “Doney,” “Dony,”
“Doney Gal,” “Little Dony.” AKA and see "Oh, My Little Darling." Old‑Time,
Breakdown & Song Air. USA, Mississippi. A Major. AEae (perhaps GDGD)
tuning. AABB. Recorded in 1939 by Abbott Ferriss & Herbert
Halpert for the Library of Congress, from the playing of Mississippi fiddler
Charles Long, of Quitman, Clarke County, Mississippi. Long was by then an
elderly man, nearly 70, and had lived much of his early life in Alabama, where
he learned to fiddle. According to the liner notes for the Mississippi Dept. of
Archives album, the tune belongs to the
"Liza Jane [3]" family of
tunes, but was recorded as "Oh My Little Darling" on the same 1939
collecting trip for the Library of Congress that Charles Long's version was
recorded. The latter was sung and played on the banjo by Thaddeus Willingham of
Gulfport Mississippi. The tune has the same fine phrase as "Goodbye Liza Jane [2]" as
recorded by Georgia musician Fiddling John Carson, although Long’s coarse
phrase is different than the usual “Liza Jane” song air.

***

Eyes just like a cherry,
cheeks just like a rose,

How I love my Dony, Got in
Heaven knows.

***

Fair you well my Dony, Fair
you well I say,

Fair you well my Dony, Come
another day.

***

You can ride the old grey
mare, I will ride the roan,

When you go a‑courtin',
Let my Dony alone.

***

Preacher in the pulpit,
Bible in his hand,

Said he wouldn't preach no
more, Till he got another dram.

***

Wish I had a band box, Put
my Dony in,

Take her out and kiss her,
Put her back again.

***

It has been suggested (by David Lynch and others) that the name Dony
derived from the Spanish cognate of ‘donna,’ doña,See also song
versions called “Platonia, Pride of the Plains” (as recorded by Norman Blake).
Silberberg (93 Fiddle Tunes I Didn’t
Learn at the Tractor Tavern), 2004; pg. 32. Mississippi Department of Archives
and History AH‑002, Charles Long ‑ "Great Big Yam Potatoes:
Anglo‑American Fiddle Music from Mississippi" (1985. Reissue
recording).

MY LODGING'S IN/ON THE
COLD, COLD GROUND (Is Mo Loistin an Talam Fuar). AKA and see
"Believe Me, If All (Those Enduring Young
Charms)," "When the dove Left the Ark," "Duty
and Love." English, Air and Waltz; Irish, Slow Air (3/4 time). G Major.
Standard tuning. One part (O’Farrell): AB (Chappell, Kennedy, O'Neill, Raven):
AABB (Kerr). This has been a very popular and enduring melody since its first
appearence in print in Vocal Music, or
The Songster's Companion of 1775. However, the lyrics in one form or
another are considerably older and were set to another tune composed by Matthew
Lock which appeared in the year 1664 (see "On the Cold Ground, or I
Prethee, Love, Turn to Me"). At some point in the next century the old
tune was discarded and the familiar one substituted. “My Lodging’s…” was played
as a Tattoo during the American Civil War, signalling bed-time and “lights out”
in the military camp. Bruce &
Emmett’s Drummers’ and Fifers’ Guide, 1862; pg. 45. Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Times), vol.
2, 1859; pgs. 140‑141. Kennedy (Fiddlers
Tune Book), vol. 1, 1951; No. 67, pg. 33. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 3; No. 402, pg. 44. O’Farrell (Pocket Companion, vol. 1); c. 1805; pg. 74. O'Neill
(Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903/1979; No. 114, pg. 21. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg.
133. Topic TSCD 669, Billy Ballantine & Jimmy
Hunter (et al) – “Ranting and Reeling: Dance Music of the north of England”
(1998. Piccolo player Billy Ballantine {born c. 1890’s} and harmonica player
Jimmy Hunter were both from Northumberland).

MY LONG TAIL BLUE. American. Bronner (1987)
says the tune is related to a Scottish folk song, without further specifying.

MY LORD BYRON’S MAGGOT. English, Country Dance Tune (6/8 time). D Major.
Standard tuning. AAB. A maggot was another term for a dram, a unit of liquid
measure, and also meant something of small or little consequence or a
plaything; from the Italian maggioletta
. Maggots were latter 17th century longways country dances written generally to
triple-time tunes and often dedicated to a personage.Sharp (Country Dance Tunes),
1909/1994; pg. 71.

X:1

T:My Lord
Byron’s Maggot

M:6/8

L:1/8

S:Sharp – Country Dance Tunes

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:D

|: A | (AFA)
(AFA) | (AFA) [F2A2]d | (dAd) (dAd) | (dAd) d2d |

(fga) (efg) |
(fga) (efg) | fga a2^g | (a3a2) :|

|| a | (fd)d
(ge)e | (fd)d (ge)e | (fd)d g>ag/f/ | (e3e2) f/g/ |

a2z g2z | f2z
e2z | f2z g2z | f2z e2a |

(f/g/ad) (eAa)
| (f/g/ad) (eAa) | f>ed e e2 | (d3 d2) ||

MY LORD MAYOR'S DELIGHT. AKA and see "Lillibulero." This alternate title
for the well-known "Lillibulero" can be traced to a reference in
Edward Ward's The London Spy (1698‑9) of a street scene in London,
which reads:

MY LOVE CAME PASSING BY ME. English.
England, Northumberland. Title appears in Henry Robson's list of popular
Northumbrian song and dance tunes ("The Northern Minstrel's Budget"),
which he published c. 1800.

MY LOVE IN SECRET (Mo Leannan falaich). Scottish,
G Major. Standard tuning. AABB'. "The very name of this air precludes from
obtaining much information regarding the particular occasion of it; but it is
the genuine set, sung by the gentlemen mentioned in the prospectus"
(Fraser). Fraser (The Airs and Melodies
Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1874; No. 58, pg. 20.

Although of
Scottish origin it soon became a popular tune south of the Tweed, as attested
to the title's appearance in Henry Robson's list of popular Northumbrian song
and dance tunes ("The Northern Minstrel's Budget"), which he
published c. 1800. Northumbrian musician William Vickers included it in his
1770 music manuscript under the title “My Lover’s Butt a Lady Yett.”"My Love She's But a Lassie Yet"
is also the name of a Scottish country dance, though a somewhat unusual one
(Flett & Flett, 1964).

***

Imported to
Ireland, the tune was converted to a polka and played under the titles “My Love
is But a Lassie” and “Tripping on the Mountain.” The last title is the name it
was famously recorded as in the 78 RPM era by flute player John McKenna and
fiddler James Morrison.

***

The melody also
found currency across the ocean and Bayard deems it perhaps the most widespread
instrumental folk tune in Pennsylvania tradition, and that it in fact seems
mostly to have been known as an instrumental air among folk musicians in
general. The tune was printed under the title "Richmond Blues" in
George P. Knauff's Virginia Reels,
volume II (Baltimore, 1839) and was still cited as commonly played for country
dances in Orange County, New York, in the 1930's (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly). In the
South, old‑time musicians know the tune under the title “Sweet Sixteen”
and "Too Young to Marry.” Jim Taylor (1995) says the tune in its various
titles was well-known to musicians in both North and South during the American
Civil War era. See also note for “Richmond Blues.”

MY LOVE IS FAIR AND HANDSOME [1] (Ta Mo Grad Go Alain's Go Boideac). AKA and see "Coming Home from the Bog,"
"Donegal Boys," "The Gardener's Daughter," “The Groves of Mt. Talbot,”
"I Wish I Never Saw You,"
"Magic Slipper [1],"
"Maud(e) Millar [2],"
"McFadden's Handsome
Daughter," “The Montua,” “Morrison’s (Reel) [2],” “Mrs. Smullen’s,” "Paddy McFadden's [1]."Irish, Reel. G Major. Standard tuning. AB
(Flaherty): AA'B (O'Neill). A two-part version of the reel often known by the
title “McFadden’s Handsome Daughter.” "My Love is Fair and Handsome"
was the favorite reel of a Mr. Broderick, the school director with whom the
future collector Francis O'Neill boarded at Edina, Missouri, in the 1870's.
Broderick was a native of Galway and, like O'Neill, a fine performer on the
flute (O'Neill, Irish Folk Music).
Paddy Killoran recorded the tune on a c. 1950’s 78 RPM record for the Dublin
label under this title. Piper Brian McNamara has recorded a tune under this
title taken from the County Leitrim 19th century Grier
manuscript.He says another setting of
the tune can be found from a transcription of the County Westmeath piper Joe
Kilmurray of Ballinacarrigy. See also the related American Old-time tune “Katy Hill [1].” Source for notated version:
conical ("Clarke's") whistle player Jim Donoghue, 1910-1990
(Drimacoo, Monasteraden, County Sligo) [Flaherty]. Flaherty (Trip to Sligo), 1990; pg. 179. O'Neill
(Krassen), 1976; pg. 99. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies),
1903/1979; No. 1220, pg. 230. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 497, pg. 94.

MY LOVE IS FAIR AND HANDSOME [2]. Irish,
Reel. Not the tune usually associated with the name “My Love is Fair and
Handsome,” Naka Ishii finds it a version of “Kit O’Connor's Reel.” The liner
notes to Bobby Casey’s album (written by Tony Crehan) give that “My Love is
Fair and Handsome” [2] was composed by New York fiddler Paddy Killoran.Killoran, says Crehan, was married to a
sister of Josie Hayes of Coor, and was a frequent visitor to Clare. Local
County Clare musicians picked up the tune from his playing during visits in the
1950’s. Bellbridge Records, Bobby Casey – “Casey in
the Cowhouse” (1992. Originally recorded 1959).

MY LOVE IS FIXED UPON HER (Tha mo ghaol air an nighean). Scottish, Slow Air (4/4 time). B Minor. Standard.
AAB. "The only words the editor ever heard to this air are by Donald Downe
Fraser, forester and gamekeeper to Simon Fraser, Esq., of Foyers. If there are
none more ancient, the same man should have the merit of composing this sweet
eccentric air" (Fraser). Fraser (The
Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles),
1874; No. 167, pg. 68.

MY LOVE IS GONE TO SEA (Chaidh mo leannan null thar sàl). Scottish, Jig. C Major. Standard. AB. This tune
"is in the genuine cheerful style of the boat songs, and a particular
favourite with the gentlemen mentioned in the prospectus. Should Government
carry to maturity the mere hint on the North Sea fishing, given in Note 66, the
present general relish for the boat songs will increase, with the sensation
excited, or with the success anticipated" (Fraser). Fraser (The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the
Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1874; No. 201, pg. 83.

MY LOVE IS LIKE THE/A RED, RED ROSE [1]. AKA and see “Low Down in the Broom.” Scottish,
Strathspey. D Major (Cole, Kerr). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The title comes
from the lyric set to the tune by the Scots' national poet, Robert Burns. The
tune is not the one Burns originally had in mind for his words, which actually
was Gow's "Major
Graham (of Inchbrakie)"; it was replaced with an old Scottish tune
"Low Down in the Broom" by G.R. Graham some fifty years after Burns'
original publication. Neil (1991) reports that most of the lyric came from a
country girl whom the poet overheard singing in his youth; so impressed was he
that he took a note of them and later altered them to his ear. Other variants
of the song also exist.

MY LOVE IS NEWLY LISTED. English,
Air (4/4 time). England, Northumberland. E Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle).
One part. "The late Mr. Thomas Doubleday, an enthusiastic and eloquent
advocate for the collection of old Northumbrian music, picked this tune up from
a street singer, and inserted it in a contribution to Blackwood's Magazine, in 1821. He gave some verses adapted to the
milody entitled 'Oh the snaw it melts the soonest,' and describes it as 'An air
that has been familiar to me since I was 'penny‑can high,' as the saying
is' but the merit of which I was never aware of until now. I have forgot what
we used to call it, but it now goes by the name of 'My Love is Newly Listed'.
It is just one of those ditties which Gay would have put into the Beggar's Opera. Monotonous, yet original‑‑full
of mannerism,yet with a vein of
unexpected feeling‑‑it embodies, in a faint degree, that mixture
ofpassion which is at the top of what
you call 'musical expression.''" (Bruce & Stokoe). Bruce & Stokoe
(Northumbrian Minstrelsy), 1882; p.
97.

MY LOVE IS ON THE OCEAN [2]. Scottish,
Reel. A Mixolydian/D Major. Standard. AABB’. There are two extra measures
inserted between the ‘A’ and ‘B’ parts in Kerr’s version, making it a rare
Scottish irregular tune. It is a variant of “My Love is on the Ocean [1].” Kerr
(Merry Melodies), vol. 4; No. 85, pg.
11.

MY LOVE SHE IS LIVING IN DONEGAL TOWN. Irish, Slow Air (6/8 time). A Minor. Standard
tuning. One part. "Sent to Forde by the Rev. Alexander Ross of Dungiven,
Londonderry" (Joyce). The air is identical to another air from the Pigot
Collection (published within Joyce’s work), No. 712, an untitled air from a
Donegal native. Caoimhin Mac Aoidh (1994) states he heard the tune played by
two fiddlers, John Doherty
of Donegal and Vincent McLoughlin of Ballymaguigan, County Derry. He concludes
the tune has some currency in the 19th century in the northwest of Ireland, but
that it has gone out of fashion. Joyce (Old
Irish Folk Music and Song), 1909; No. 663, pg. 332.

MY LOVE TODAY AS HERETOFORE (Mo run an diugh mar an de thu). Scottish, Slow Air (6/8 time). G Major. Standard
tuning. AABB. "This tune has pervaded most of the Highland and the Isles,
but its origin seems to have been traced to Appin of Dull, or Strathtay, where
a girl of the name of Cameron was left in circumstances peculiarly distressing
by her lover, who went abroad. Her song describes, most passionately, her affections
unlaterably fixed upon him, and, notwithstanding his dereliction of her in such
circumstances, she observes, that to retort or accuse is by no means the way to
reclaim misconduct, but that she would continue to profess 'her love today as
heretofore,' that none might suppose her sentiments altered. Sentiments so
loveral and amiable soon spread from hadn to hand, and found their way to her
lover, when the youth, contrasting them with the sting in his own bosom, was so
impressed with the insult offered to so much innate virtue, that he soon felt
all the force of returning affection, heightened by esteem for the object of
his early attachment, who could so nobly conduct herself, that he returned to
marry her, and they lived in comfort many years" (Fraser). Fraser (The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the
Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1874; No. 165, pg. 67.

MY LOVER WOUNDED (Mo ghradh fo leoin). Scottish,
Slow Air (3/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning. AAB. "The few verses the
editor ever heard of this delightful simple melody, mentioned no name that
could enable him to trace the event which gave rise to it. There is an
imperfect set of it in the collection of the Reverend Patrick MacDonald,--which corroborates its being a Highland
melody. The set now given was from the gentlemen alluded to in the Prospectus"
(Fraser). Fraser (The Airs and Melodies
Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1874; No. 84, pg. 31.

MY LOVE'S BONNY WHEN SHE SMILES ON ME. AKA and see "Flowers of Edinburgh [1].”
Scottish, Slow Air (4/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning. AABB. This tune may
have been written (with the above title) in the 1740's by James Oswald. Glen
says it appeared in 1742, perhaps misdating its publication in Oswald’s 1744 A
Second Collection of Curious Scots Tunes. Soon after, it was published in
his Caledonian Pocket Companion under
the title "Flowers of Edinburgh,” and is widely known nowadays by that
title. Bayard (1981) states it also appears in Oswald's second volume of Curious Scots Tunes, c. 1742. Alburger (Scottish Fiddlers and Their Music),
1983; Ex. 25, pg. 47.Redwing
Music RWMCD 5410, Abby Newton – “Castles, Kirks and Caves” (2001).

MY MARY CULLENAN (A Mháire ni Chuillionáin).Irish, Air (2/4 time). D Minor.
Standard tuning. AB. Joyce notes that this is a different air than the
similarly-titled “Móirín ní Chuillionáin” (a version of the well-known “Rose
Tree”). Source for notated version: copied by P.W. Joyce from the Forde
manuscript, which were coped in turn from a manuscript lent to Forde by piper
Patrick Carey of County Cork (who is probably the Patrick Carew who supplied
Petrie with so many tunes) [Joyce]. Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Songs),
1909; No. 449, pg. 252.

MY MIND IT IS UNEASY. Irish,
Air (4/4 time). D Dorian. Standard tuning. One part. "This song is an
example of the consummate taste and skill of those unlearned old song‑writers
in suiting words to music: for both song and air are characterised by intense
sadness. I learned both in childhood; I never heard either air or song outside
my own home; and I do not believe that they have ever been printed. Though the
words are rude and artless, it is well worth printing them for their passionate
earnestness" (Joyce). Joyce (Old
Irish Folk Music and Songs), 1909; No. 388, pgs. 195‑196.

MY NAME IS BOLD KELLY [1]. Irish,
Air (6/8 time). G Dorian. Standard tuning. One part. "There is a different
air with this name in Stanford‑Petrie, which was contributed by me. But
some mistake has crept in; for this is not the name I gave it. The spirited air
I give here I remember from childhood as 'My Name is bold Kelly', as well as a
verse or two of the song about Bold Kelly himself" (Joyce). Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Songs), 1909;
No. 248, pg. 120.

MY
NANNY-O. AKA and see “When Bidden to the Wake.”
Scottish, Slow Air. E Minor (McGibbon, O’Farrell): D Minor (Howe). Standard
tuning. AB (Howe): AABB (McGibbon, O’Farrell): AABBCCDDEEFF. The tune is from a
17th‑century slow air to which Allan Ramsay wrote new words in 1718 for
his Tea Table Miscellany (in a
section called “Musick for the Scots Songs”). It also appears in Orpheus Caledonius (1725). William
Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Time,
1859) appears to claim the tune as English from its mention in the Roxburghe
Collection where ‘a pleasant new tune, or Nanny O’ is the vehicle for a song
called “The Scotch Wooing,” has to do with the southern part of Northumberland.
It has a burden thatgoes:

***

It is Nanny, Nanny, Nanny O,

The love I bear to Nanny O,

All the world shall never know

The love I bear to Nanny O.

***

Graham and John Glen believe
the tune to be thoroughly Scottish, In the McFarlane/Johnson version,
variations were set as an air‑jig suite by William Forbes of Disblair (c.
1662‑1740). William Forbes lived on an estated in Aberdeenshire,
according to Johnson (1984), and took up composing late in life after being
rendered almost penniless "through paying extravagent sums of aliment to
his ex‑wife." Though he was somewhat isolated from mainstream
contact as a composer, he mixed Scottish and Italian ideas in the same pieces;
Johnson sees him as "quirky" but "original".

***

“My Nanny-O” proved to be a
popular and durable melody which later appeared in James Oswald’s Caledonian Pocket Companion (London,
1760) and was also printed in the McLean collection of 1772. Oswald again used
part of the melody for the beginning theme of his 'Snowdrop' sonata . Under the
title “When Bidden to the Wake” it was printed by Benjamin Carr in Evening Amusement (1796, pg. 20). The Scots Musical Museum of 1789 gives it
under the incomplete title “While for Some Pawn Their…”, and it was performed
on the London stage in William Shield and Mrs. Brooke’s play Rosina, in 1783, called “A Fair Scots
Tune.” The tune also appears in musicians manuscripts: in America, in the Shattuck Manuscript of 1801 as “Mananio”
(obviously a condensation of the title “My Nanny-O”), and in the Commonplace Manuscript of 1797 as “When
Night Her Sable Curtain Drew, or Sorrows of Werter.” Source for notated version:
the McFarlane MS., 1740 (vol. ii, no. 108) [Johnson]. Howe (1000 Jigs and Reels), c. 1867; pg. 126.
Johnson (Scottish Fiddle Music in the
18th Century), 1984; No. 26, pg. 77. McGibbon (Scots Tunes, book III), 1762; pg. 71.
O’Farrell (Pocket Companion, vol. II),
c. 1806; pg. 95.

MY NANNY’S AWA. AKA and see “Dear Sandy.” Scottish, Waltz. D Major. Standard
tuning. One part. “My Nanny’s Awa” was a broadside ballad of the mid-19th
century, published by James Lindsay of 11 King Street, Glasgow. The first verse
goes:

MY OLD DOG'S TRAILING UP A SQUIRREL. Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA, Mississippi. A
Modal/Major. AEae tuning. ABACDCDCDC. The tune, which was originally recorded
for the Library of Congress in 1939 by Clarke County, Mississippi, fiddler
Charles Long (who was originally from Alabama), appears unique and has not been
found in other printed or recorded versions. Mississippi
Department of Archives and History AH‑002, Charles Long ‑
"Great Big Yam Potatoes: Anglo‑American Fiddle Music from
Mississippi" (1985).

MY PRETTY BROWN-HAIRED GIRL AND MYSELF A-WALKING
TOGETHER (Mo chailín donn deas as misi siubhal le chéile). Irish, Slow Air (3/4 time). F Major. Standard
tuning. AB. Source for notated version: Phil Gleason of Coolfree near
Ballyorgan in the Co. Limerick, who "was a noted singer, and such an
inimitable whistler that at some distance he was able to puzzle the best ear as
to what sort of musical instrument he played" (Joyce). Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Songs), 1909;
No. 160, pg. 81.

MY RECENT GIFT (Mo chion air an ur-ghibht). Scottish, Slow Air (3/4 time). C Major. Standard tuning. AAB. This tune
"is an air of which the words and substance can be obtained from most of
the recent publications of Gaelic songs of any consequence. There is one set of
verses by Macleod's female bard, on the birth of an heir of that family"
(Fraser). Fraser (The Airs and Melodies
Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1874; No. 196, pg.
81.

X:1

T:My recent Gift

T:Mo chion air an ur – ghibht

M:3/4

L:1/8

S:Fraser Collection

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:C

c>d|B2 A^GEG|(B2A2) B>A|=G3 E^GB|A2 z2 c>d|e2G2 (A>G)|A2
G<E A>G|

A2 G<E D2|C2 z2:|

|:(E>F)|G4 A>B|c2e2 d>c|B2 A>^GEG|A2 z2 c>d|e2G2 A>G|A2
GEA>G|

A2 GE D2|C4 (E>F)|G4 A>B|c2e2 d>c|B2 A>^GEG|A4 (G/A/B)|c2C2
(E>D)|

E2A2 G>F|E3F
D2|C4||

MY ROBIN IS TO THE GREENWOOD GONE. AKA and
see "Bonny Sweet Robin."
English, Song Air (3/4 time). D Dorian. Standard tuning. ABB. The air appears
in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, Jane Pickering's Lute Book, William Ballet's Lute Book, Anthony
Holborne's Cittharn Schoole (1597),
and Robinson's Schoole of Musicke
(1603). It is possible this was a Robin Hood ballad, though the words have been
lost. Chappell (1859) thinks one of Ophelia's lines in Hamlet may be a line of the song:

MY SWEET CATHERINE OGIE. English.
England, Northumberland. The title appears in Henry Robson's list of popular
Northumbrian song and dance tune ("The Northern Minstrel's Budget"),
which he published c. 1800. It is probably the well‑known Scottish tune
"Catherine Ogie."

MY TOCHER'S THE JEWEL. AKA and see “Bundle and Go,” "The High Way to Edinburgh,"
"Lord Elcho's Favourite."
Scottish, Jig. A Minor. Standard tuning. AABB. The composition of the tune
under this title is by Nathaniel Gow.
The melody may have been taken at some time from "The Muckin' of Geordie's
Byre," at least according to Scots national poet Robert Burns who in a
Cromek's Reliques (1808) called Niel
Gow's (or "Niel Gow & Son's") claim of authorship 'notorious.'
His opinion was seconded by the collector John Glen (1895), who, however, did
not blame Niel but his son Nathaniel Gow. Nathaniel defended himself a year
after Burns' accusation by protesting that no composer's name was attached to
the melody in the Gow collections, and that, in any case, "My Tocher's the
Jewel" could be found as an untitled quick jig in Oswald's Caledonian Pocket Companion (book III,
pg. 28). Glen (1895) points out it can also be found, long before Nathaniel's
time, in James Aird'sSelection of Airs and Marches (1st
edition) under the name "The Highway to Edinburgh." Oswald's quick
jig also was given another use by Gow who thought it a pretty tune when played
slow, and, since it did not have a name, he titled it "Lord Elcho's
Favourite."Robert Burns himself
wrote a lyric called "My Tocher's the Jewel," contributed to James
Johnson's Scots Musical Museum, to
the tune of the related "The Highway to Edinburgh." Cazden (et al,
1982) identify these tunes as belonging to the protean 'Lazarus' family of
airs, which include the famous Irish tune "Star of the County Down" and
the Scottish "Gilderoy." Kerr
(Merry Melodies), vol. 3; No. 289,
pg. 31.

MY TRUE LOVE HAS GONE FROM ME. Irish, Air (4/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning.
AB. O’Neill (1922) says: “This air like scores of others was unconsciously
memorized in my boyhood days at Tralibane some three miles southeast of Bantry,
West Cork. All that I can remember now of the ballad sung to it is the distich:

***

My true love he
has gone from me, and I can't tell how far

Eighteen
hundred thousand miles, on board of a man of war

***

It is not likely that the poetaster in equalizing his meter realized the
absurdity of a voyage equal to seventy-two times the circumference of the
earth.” O’Neill (Waifs
and Strays of Gaelic Melody), 1922.

MY WIFE DIED ON SATURDAY NIGHT.Old-Time, Breakdown and Song. Old-Time,
Breakdown and Song. C Major. Standard tuning. ABB. Dr. Humphrey Bate, a
bona-fide physician with a medical degree from Vanderbilt, recorded this song
with his band The Possum Hunters. Bate sang and played harmonica and some
guitar, and his was one of the most poular bands in the Nashville area for many
years.They were the first string band
to air on Nashville radio and the first to tour from the Grand Ole Opry.The good Dr. led the Possum Hunters until
his death in the 1940’s, and the band continued in various forms until the
1960’s. The harmonica was not an uncommon instrument in early American string
bands.

MY WIFE IS SICK AND
LIKE TO DIE, OH DEAR WHAT SHALL I DO. AKA and see “Castle of Dromore.” Irish, Air (6/8
time). F Major. Standard tuning. One part. The melody appears in Hoffman’s
collection of Petrie’s tunes (1877) and in O’Neill’s Music of Ireland (1903) as the “Castle of Dromore.” Stanford/Petrie
(Complete Collection), 1905; No. 509,
pg. 129.

MY WIFE SHE’S TA’EN
THE GEE. Scottish, Air (4/4 time). C Major. Standard tuning.
AB. “Old” it is noted.“The Job of Journeywork [1]” is
said to be based upon this tune.

The title roughly translates as “My wife is
displaying pettishness or temper.” It forms the burden of a song called “The
Rinaway Bride” (Chambers, The Scottish Songs, 1829):

***

A laddie and a lassie fair,

Lived in the south countrie;

They hae coost their claes thegither,

And wedded wad they be.

On Tuesday to the bridal feast,

Came fiddlers flocking
free—

But hey play up the rinaway bride,

For she has ta’en the gee.

***

Ritson, in Scotch Songs, vol. 1, pg. 90, also
printed a song called “My Wife hae ta’en the Gee.” ***

The tune was "Communicated by A.G. Hunter,
Esq., of Blackness" (Gow). Alexander Gibson Hunter of Blackness, heir of
large estates in Forfarshire, was an intimate of Sir Walter Scott’s. He himself
was a writer and became a partner in the Edinburgh publishing house of
Archibald Constanble & Co. in 1801. They published the Edinburgh Review,
a periodical which published some of the early poems of Scott’s. Hunter
succeeded to the family estates in 1809, moved into Blackness House, near
Dundee, and gave up the publishing business, but not before encouraging Scott
to write novels in addition to poetry. John Gibson Lockhart (Memoirs of the
Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart., 1837) maintains that the publishing
partnership dissolved because of “intemperate language” on the part of Hunter,
but this has been disputed. Hunter did not survive long as Laird of Blackness,
for he died in 1812 at about the age of forty. Hunter was known as “an elegant
scholar and an enthusiastic lover of the fine arts. As a musician he excelled.”
[Notes and Queries, 4th S. IV. OCT. 30/69]. His wife was
a cousin named Anne Gibson-Wright, whom he married in 1800. See also “Miss H. Hunter of Blackness,”
a tune for another member of the family.

MY WIFE'S A WANTON WEE THING [1]. AKA – “My
Wife’s a Winsome Wee Thing.” AKA and see "Bride Next." Scottish, Jig. D
Mixolydian (Athole, Gow, Hall & Stafford, S. Johnson, Kennesy, Kerr/vol. 2,
Raven, Sweet): A Mixolydian (Kerr/vol. 3): G Mixolydian (Cranford). Standard
tuning. AB (Howe): AAB (S. Johnson, Kennedy, Kerr, Raven, Sweet): AABCCD
(Athole, Gow, Hall & Stafford, Hardie). The melody was published by Henry
Playford as "Bride Next" in his 1700 collection of Scottish dance
music. John Glen (1891) finds the earliest printing of the tune under the above
title in Neil Stewart's 1761 collection
(pg. 30), and also as "My Wife..." in the Gillespie Manuscript of Perth (1768). Hardie (1992) and Cranford
(1994) state it earlier appears in James Oswald's Caledonian Pocket Companion (Book 6) of c. 1751 or 1755. Directions
for the country dance were written down in 1752 by John McGill, a dancing
master in Girvan, for his students. The tune was adapted by Robert Burns for
one of his songs, called "My Wife's a Winsome Wee Thing," who, though
fond of "the light horse gallop of the air," complained that its
peculiar rhythms presented the poet with "almost insuperable
difficulties," like many Scottish tunes. The tune was
adapted by Robert Burns for one of his songs, called "My Wife's a Winsome
Wee Thing," who, although he was fond of "the light horse gallop of
the air," complained that its peculiar rhythms presented the poet with
"almost insuperable difficulties," like many Scottish tunes. The
lyric to the ‘wanton’ version, from the Merry
Muses of Caledonia (1799), begins:

MYLLARGUTEN (The Miller's Boy). Norwegian. The title of the tune was a pseudonym
for Torgeir Augundson, a child prodigy who became one of the most influential
spelemann (hardranger fiddlers) in Norway,
both in style of playing and body of pieces.He received a command‑invitation to play for the King of Denmark (Denmark
ruled Norway
from 1397‑1814), though it is not recorded how his playing was received.

MYLLARGUTEN'S SISTE SLATT (Myllarguten's Last Slatt). Norwegian, Lydarslatt (listening piece for the
Hardanger fiddle). A Mixolydian. ADae tuning. One part. Myllarguten (or The
Miller Boy) was the nickname for the legendary Norwegian fiddler Torgeir
Augundsen, the most famous speleman (traditional fiddler) of the 19th century.
This piece is a listening piece, even though based on the ganger dance form.
Source for notated version: Finn Vabo (Vestland,
Norway) [Hopkins].
Hopkins, 1986; Ex. 2, pg. 108.

MYRTLE, THE.Scottish,
Air. Composed by James Oswald as part of his suite of 48 ‘Airs’, consisting of one
air for each of twelve plants in each of four seasons. Not content with one
such suite, Oswald composed another whole set for a total of 96 pieces of
music. The myrtle is a fabled plant in the British Isles.
John Purser writes that the plant was dedicated to the goddess Venus, giving
rise to the tradition in which young maids would place a sprig of myrtle under
their pillows on St. John’s Eve and fall asleep hoping to dream of their ‘true
love’, thus insuring a union would come about. The bouquets of Royal Brides in
Britain, says Purser, contains a sprig of the plant, grown from the planted
sprig of myrtle that Queen Victoria carried in her own bridal bouquet. Redwing Music RWMCD 5410, Abby Newton
– “Castles, Kirks and Caves” (2001. This is the third air from Oswald’s second
set for ‘Summer’).